Frances Bolton, Margaret Tibbetts And The US Relations With The Rhodesian Federation, 1950–1960

10.1163/ej.9789004209862.i-334.71

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Chapter Summary

The British government combined Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and Nyasaland (Malawi) into the Rhodesian, or Central African, Federation. This essay contributes key pieces to the bigger historical puzzles of the Rhodesian Federation, US relations with Africa. Bolton, a member of the US House of Representatives, and Tibbetts, a Foreign Service officer, helped construct the foundations of American relations with the Rhodesian Federation, In the early 1950s, the task of monitoring the creation of the Rhodesian Federation was assigned to an American diplomat in London named Margaret Joy Tibbetts and Bolton's excursion into the Rhodesian Federation occurred during real boom times for the mining industry. They both argued for the significance of economics on one hand and race relations on the other. They also emphasized the importance of cultural ties in fields such as education and health care.